The present invention relates in general to portable decryption system for an end user. More particularly, the present invention relates to a smart card for use with portable handheld device and personal computers to enable the user to securely purchase and play digital music.
The Internet has proven to be a fertile testing ground for the applicability of existing laws to new circumstances. As new technologies develop, the struggle to determine the legality of various applications of that technology often involve groups with varying goals, all of which factor into the final outcome. One such technology is the distribution of digital data over a network from a source to an end user, such as for example, the distribution of music over the Internet. For example, in the music industry, there are several standards for transmitting music over the Internet, each of which puts into focus various issues of the legality of such actions. Various groups have also come to the forefront of the debate involving the distribution of music over the Internet, and the outcomexe2x80x94that is, what laws exist and how they are enforcedxe2x80x94reflect not only the technology itself but also the interest of those who stand to win and lose from the enforcement.
Technological advances have furthered the ease with which music can be distributed over the Internet, as well as increased the quality of the music being transmitted. Even before the Internet and the World Wide Web were used by the general public, it was still possible to both encode music and distribute it. This could be done using, for example, a microphone or soundboard. Analog audio signals were digitized and then encoded using, for example, the pulse code modulation (PCM) format. There were, however, many barriers that hindered the widespread distribution of music via computers. Although files could be encoded the encoding methods either did not significantly compress the data or they compressed the data but significantly reduced the quality of the sound that could be produced from the compressed data. Uncompressed files are large and therefore difficult to transmit from one computer to another. In addition, without the connectivity afforded by the global information network (e.g. the Internet), the average personal computer user would not be able to access these music files. Several new technologies, however, have been developed that are able to significantly compress audio data while maintaining its fidelity and effectively use the Internet as a means of distributing the music.
One audio technology that developed from the Internet is RealAudio. Produced by Progressive Networks, RealAudio is an Internet audio delivery system. Progressive Networks produces both a RealAudio server and a RealAudio player, which is distributed freely from the Progressive Networks RealPlayer web site. RealAudio was initially one of the most popular ways for distributing music over the Internet, and still remains popular today. However, RealAudio did not bring to the forefront many of the legal issues involved in distributing music over the Internet that other technologies, such as Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) Audio Layer-3 (MP3) have done.
One reason for RealAudio""s popularity is that the RealAudio sound format is highly compressed. This high compression ratio allows audio such as music to be transmitted in a continuous stream over the Internet. Such streaming audio allows a user to listen to a music file as it downloads, instead of having to download the entire file and then listen to it. Furthermore, the compression used by RealAudio allows streaming music files to be transmitted through even relatively slow Internet connections, such as those provided by 28.8 or 14.4 Kbps modems.
The RealAudio encoding and transmission system did bring up some issues of legality and copyright, but several factors prevented the type of debate that now surrounds the MP3 format. First, the technology needed to both encode sound files into RealAudio format and the RealAudio server was available exclusively from Progressive Networks. In addition, this technology is too expensive for the casual user to use to distribute music over the Internet recreationally. This means that, for the most part, distributing music in RealAudio was done by companies that either owned the copyrighted material or paid for the use of the copyrighted material as a promotional tool. For example, the Internet Underground Music Archive (which initially used the RealAudio format but has since switched to LiquidAudio and various other formats) allowed independent artists to put music clips on their site. In such an arrangement, there are really no legal controversies, whether of copyright or otherwise, since all of the involved parties (including the bands or artists, record labels, publishers, and holders of copyright) typically consented to the arrangement.
Another factor that minimizes any legal controversy surrounding the RealAudio format was the fact that sound files are compressed to allow streaming audio over a 28.8 Kbps modem connection only with a significant loss in sound quality. For example, a one-minute music clip in .WAV format is encoded using approximately 12 megabytes and its sound quality is virtually identical to that of a compact disc. When, however, the same one-minute music clip is transmitted over the Internet using a streaming compression technique, it is compressed to occupy many fewer bytes. This decrease in size comes with a decrease in the sound quality, which does not come close to rivaling that of a compact disc. Furthermore, to minimize download time, many RealAudio music clips are not entire songs, but rather, they are only a portion of a song. For this reason, the RealAudio format did not pose a serious threat to the music industry, as it was not an ideal substitute to purchasing music.
Unlike RealAudio, a technology that presents a serious threat to the record industry is the previously mentioned MPEG Audio Layer-3, or MP3, format. Quite simply, the technology behind the MP3 audio format allows for a high compression ratio and CD-quality sound. An MP3 file compresses a sound file, for example, to one-tenth or one-twelfth its original size. This means that a five-minute song that would have been a 60-megabyte file in .WAV format will be a mere five megabytes as an MP3 file, while still retaining near CD-quality sound. Because MP3 encoders are freely available, this format lends itself more readily to homegrown distribution than does the RealAudio format. In fact, the impressive 12:1 compression ratio of MP3 has made the scheme a hot button on the Internet, because file size is no longer as big of an issue as with, say, the .WAV format, and because sound quality doesn""t suffer as it does with conventional streaming encoders. Furthermore, MP3 players, encoders, and xe2x80x98rippersxe2x80x99xe2x80x94programs for snatching a digital audio stream from a CDxe2x80x94are readily available. Unlike RealAudio, the average user can cheaply create MP3 files of copyrighted music. All that is required is a CD-ROM drive and freely available software to encode the audio CD tracks to MP3 format. While it is not illegal for the owner of a copy of an audio work to make another copy for personal use, it is illegal for the owner to distribute that copy.
The technology behind the MP3 file format has spawned a thriving Internet community intent on distributing music. If an arrangement to distribute MP3 files is similar the one used by the Internet Underground Music Archive (which now does feature music in MP3 format) in which the copyright owner consents to distribution over the Internet, then there are no legal issues. When, however, the copyright owner or the company charged by the owner to enforce the copyright does not consent to the distribution, the legality of any such distribution is at least questionable. While the legality of such distribution of copyrighted material is not very controversial, it is complicated by home recording provisions in the law that provide significant non-infringing use for MP3 encoders and rippers. Enforcing these laws is a complicated task for any regulatory body or industry group, such as the Record Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Not surprisingly, the RIAA is one of the major opponents of the distribution of copyrighted music. Recently, the RIAA, which represents the major record labels, has been pursuing on the pirates, using the take-down provisions of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to remove infringing content from the Internet and pressing for civil actions that seek temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions against several top Internet MP3 sites.
Aside from legal action, the RIAA has also attempted to prevent the distribution of copyrighted works by taking educational steps with Universities, where much of the distribution of MP3 files takes place. Colleges and Universities have been central to the growth in popularity of the MP3 format. One reason for this is that many MP3 sites are run by college students who live in dormitories that provide high-speed T1 data connections. These cites represent a significant problem for the recording industry and for popular artists. If, for example, each college in the United States has just two or three students running a server from their computer, there would be thousands of sites offering music for download.
The result of this action by the RIAA is that many of the more blatant sites, that initially were very successful, have been shut down. However, for every site that has been shut down, multiple new cites emerge. The distribution has been driven more underground, but is still readily available. The RIAA""s stance on MP3 is simple, they would like to regulate the copying and distribution of MP3 files to ensure that the artists and copyright owners receive their royalties. Because MP3 encoders and rippers have substantial non-infringing uses, RIAA can not prevent or otherwise control the copying of music into MP3 format and can control the distribution of the MP3 files only with difficulty. No matter what course of action the RIAA or other organizations pursue, however, it seems that the benefits of using MP3 technology greatly outweigh the costs, and that the format will continue to be a popular way of distributing music.
One solution to this music distribution problem is to encrypt the music data before it is distributed. One of the main difficulties with encryption is the need to xe2x80x9ctiexe2x80x9d the encrypted music to a local physical medium. Tying the encryption to software only would not prevent porting the encrypted music with the decryption key to any other similar platform. The music is usually tied to the local hard-drive ID in a case of a PC. In the case of portable devices, encryption/decryption chips embedded within the portable players will be used to tie the encrypted music to the portable devices.
The current solutions have the following important shortcomings:
Tying the encrypted music to a specific hard-drive poses the imminent danger that a mechanical or electrical failure in the hard drive (e.g. a head crash) would result in the permanent loss of the music it carries. Backup of the encrypted music on another storage medium (using conventional back-up techniques) would not solve the problem because the music is tied to the specific disk that was damaged and the backed-up data files are useless on a hard disk having an identifier that does not exactly match the identifier of the failed disk drive.
Tying the encrypted music to a specific digital music player with a built-in decryption chip is not an attractive option either. Technology is moving rather quickly and a digital music player today may be obsolete in a couple of years. The digital music bought today however, will, in many cases, have a longer lifetime.
Tying the music to a specific portable player reduces the xe2x80x9cportabilityxe2x80x9d of the music. One of the most attractive features of portable music, such as CD or cassette is the ability to play it wherever a player exists. In the case of secure digital music the music is tied to the player, which is a significant shortcoming.
Different digital music distributors may elect to use different encryption formats and tying a player to a given encryption format may deem it useless if it cannot be used to play xe2x80x9call musicxe2x80x9d.
What is needed is a system to protect the investment the public is about to make in encrypted digital music.
The present invention is embodied in an apparatus, system, and method for protecting the investment of the public in digital music using a removable smart card that contains the user""s decoding keys and, optionally, the actual decoding apparatus. The present invention allows a relatively high level of security while providing flexibility in use by allowing the purchased digital music to be played on different devices. In addition, the present invention protects the digital music from loss due to hard disk crashes or the need to upgrade the portable device.
In one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus includes a portable handheld device having a detachable smart card for decrypting the encrypted music thereby allowing the portable device to receive and play encrypted music files. The smart card possesses the key and the hardware to decrypt the encrypted music using the key.
Because the encrypted music files are associated with the card and not with the disk, when data is lost due, for example, to a disk crash on one portable player, the music files may be recovered from back-up copies and played on other devices by, for example, detaching the card from the first device and inserting it in a second portable device. Note that a file can be played on a player if it has the smart card that is associated with the file. It is thus easy to upgrade the player without losing the entire music library.
In another embodiment of the invention, the system includes a personal computer (PC) and the smart card connects to one of its communications ports or buses thus allowing the PC to play the encrypted music. This way it is possible to download or backup the music or to upgrade to a new PC without losing the ability to play the purchased copies of the music.
In another embodiment of the invention, the method includes paying for the downloaded digital data using the smart card. In one embodiment, the smart card has a stored monetary value that is read by the smart card reader device. Alternatively, data stored on the smart card, such as personal identification information, can be used to bill the end user for the digital data.
In another embodiment of the invention, the method includes accessing digital data stored at one or more servers using an access key stored on the smart card. In this embodiment, the method includes reading access keys contained on the smart card and accessing the designated server using the access keys.